Japan insisted it no longer hunts endangered sei whales in international waters, but faced accusations of still violating a wildlife treaty by allowing commercialization of meat from past catches.
Many voiced outrage at the continued sale of meat and blubber from the whales deemed to have been illegally culled and imported over a 16-year period.
Japan meanwhile stressed that it had immediately followed the committee’s October ruling, but balked at the idea it should be applied retroactively. Juan Carlos Vasquez, in charge of legal affairs at the CITES secretariat, told AFP the issue was complex and would likely spark a lengthy debate, but said he did not think it was fair to compare Japan’s sei whale meat stockpile with stockpiles of illegal ivory.
“Everything is traced, registered, controlled,” he said, adding that while CITES had rebuked Japan over its motives for the whaling, it was clear that “these are not criminals hunting whales.”
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